I must confess I had no idea what I was going to write about. I wanted to come up with something really clever, really insightful, really meaningful but came up empty. You see, I have problems writing stuff like this, I think that’s one of the reasons why I write fiction. Real life is challenging for me to write about, I’ve always had an easier time making things up. I also think that’s one reason I don’t personally write a blog. It would be too stressful to try to come up with things to write that would keep people interested and wanting to come back day after day, week after week, to read my ramblings. So I have decided to write about my day job: Acting. I’m very lucky that I get to say that. I know there’s lots of people who wish that acting was their day job and that’s how they made their living but, for whatever reason, can’t. I’m going to write about acting in this blog because I think there’s a lot of myths and misconceptions about the business that people have. Myth One: We all live in mansions, spend our days lying by pools drinking and attend fancy parties. Truth: Only a very small percent live in mansions and after a couple weeks of having a pool, the novelty, like everything, wears off and fancy parties are few and far between. In actuality, acting is a business, just like every other business. We get up in the morning, sometimes really early, go to set, have breaks, lunch, sometimes work overtime, get tired, go home and, if we’re lucky do it the next day. If we’re not on set, then we’re auditioning, if we’re not auditioning we may be in meetings with our team, or mailing our materials to casting directors or promoting ourselves. Bottom line, real actors, working actors, serious actors, actors who wanna be moving forward are always doing something to move forward. Myth Two: I’ve seen you on TV you must be rich. Truth: Just because someone is on TV doesn’t mean they are making millions of dollars. Again, only a small percent of actors make millions per movie or six figures per TV episode. What you make depends on the size of your role, union status, and if you have a name or not and what the medium is. A lot of reality shows are non-union and the actors on their get a very small flat fee, whereas a national TV commercial will pay the principal actors five figures plus residuals every time it airs. For my first TV appearance on a non-union show I got paid one hundred dollars for a day’s work. By the time I guest starred on my second TV show I was in the union and got about five hundred for the day plus residuals for re-runs. Bottom line, if you wanna be an actor to be rich or because you think it’s fast, easy money, do something else. Myth Three: Everyone in Hollywood knows everybody. Truth: While it does seem like everyone is connected somehow, either mutually working with the same people etc, not everyone knows everyone. A lot of people seem to think that we all just hang out with each other in some little private club but there are a lot of actors and a lot of projects so it’s impossible for everyone in this town to know everyone. Myth Four: Once I have representation I don’t have to do any work and the jobs and money role in. Truth: While having representation does help and give you more clout, I have agents, managers and a publicist, you still have to do a lot of work yourself. I am always having either in person meetings or emailing my team so they know what I’m up to and what I’m doing to move my career forward. You have to be pro-active with your career and if you are waiting for the phone to ring you aren’t going to go anywhere. You have to meet people, you have to network, you have to get people interested in you. Remember, acting is a business. Your business. You are self-employed. Not only are you the founder, but you are also the president, vice-president, CEO, head of marketing, head of PR, the janitor, executive in charge of schedule and, well I think you get the idea. You’re the boss. So there you have it. The four, what I think are, the biggest myths about what I do. Acting can be a very rewarding business. It’s a fun business. I think it’s the best job in the world. But it can also be very frustrating and very lonely. You have to have a lot of passion, drive, determination, tenacity and a strong belief in your talent to never give up and keep going.

It all started out innocently enough, three friends visiting a fortune teller at a carnival. But what started out as fun and games soon turns deadly as the three young friends are thrown into a web of jealousy, want and a dark magic that is more dangerous than any of them could have predicted.

Joe Filippone is currently a fulltime actor living in Hollywood California who has appeared in numerous films, TV series, webseries, music videos and theatrical productions. Joe’s short stories have appeared in over sixty anthologies, one of which was nominated for a LAMBDA Literary Award. Joe is also the author of the novels Real Boys Kiss Boys (CAPA Award Nomination For YA Fiction), The Christmas Cottage, In The Tarot, The Story Of Joe, My Soldier My War and Slave’s Awakening.